Amid the rising competitive pressures and economic uncertainty, medical device companies are turning to impactful themes to stay ahead. Against this backdrop, genomics and big data have emerged as two of the most prominent themes driving the merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the medical devices sector, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s latest report, “Medical Devices Industry Mergers and Acquisitions Deals by Top Themes in 2022 – Thematic Intelligence,” reveals that a total of 889 M&A deals were announced in the medical devices sector in 2022, collectively worth $93 billion. This activity was largely driven by two themes: genomics (the study of genes and their functions) and big data.

Suneet Muru, Thematic Intelligence Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Big data competence is vital for healthcare companies, as it allows them to understand the market and customers better, identify potential areas of opportunity, and uncover internal waste and inefficiency. Direct-to-consumer genetic testing enables consumers to gain unprecedented insights into their health, wellbeing, and even family ancestry, all from a genomic perspective. GlobalData expects more medical device deal activity in these themes in 2023.”

Muru concludes: “The medical M&A market saw several high-value deals in 2022, including the $8 billion acquisition of Signify Health by CVSHealth, the $3.9 billion acquisition of 1Life Healthcare by Amazon, and the $2.6 billion acquisition of The Binding Site Group by Thermo Fisher Scientific.”

*GlobalData tracks sectors: aerospace, defense, & security; agriculture; apparel; automotive; banking & payments; construction; consumer; foodservice; healthcare; insurance; medical devices; mining; oil & gas; packaging; pharma; power; retail; sport; technology, media, & telecoms; and travel & tourism.